Week of March 21, 2016

JUST A FEW NOTICES/REMINDERS FOR THIS WEEK…
1. As outlined in the notice sent home in folders last week, this week is March Madness week at P.S. 132! Please encourage your child to participate in each of the fun and exciting themes for each day this week. A list of themes for each day can be found below in the “Special Dates” section.
*PLEASE NOTE: It has been brought to my attention that several students want to participate in Twin Day, but do not have a selected twin. Students who do not have a “twin” by tomorrow morning and who still wish to participate in the day may wear a red shirt with black bottoms to be MY twin (or triplet…or quadruplet…or…yikes!) 🙂
2. As you may know, our school’s annual Spring Gala will be held on April 1, 2016 at Villain. As part of this fundraiser, each teacher in our school volunteers to participate in a “Teacher Treat” raffle, which offers students the opportunity to spend some quality time with a teacher of their choice while engaging in one of many educational activities. Pamphlets were sent home in student folders today outlining the details for each Teacher Treat. Please return the completed pamphlet, along with the correct amount of money, in student folders at your earliest convenience, if applicable.
3. Due to ANOTHER change in our schedule, our class will once again have Performing Arts on Thursdays from 11:20 a.m.-12:55 p.m. As a result of this change, “Share Time” will once again be held on Fridays. (Sorry!)
4. During our trip to the Brooklyn Music Playhouse on February 25th, the Toy Museum presented our class with an adorable toy as a parting gift: a small stuffed penguin named Polly the Penguin. Students will volunteer to take Polly the Penguin home for the weekend to join them on all their weekend travels. Students will be asked to take and paste pictures with Polly the Penguin and/or write a few sentences about their adventures with Polly in a journal, which will be given to the selected student each Friday and should be returned the following Monday. The students will have an opportunity to share their journal entries with the class during morning meeting on the Monday following their weekend with Polly. This is not a mandatory assignment; it is simply a fun way for students to get excited about writing and have an opportunity to explore the art of journaling. Only students who wish to volunteer will be selected to participate. Every Friday, names of all student volunteers will go into a hat, and one student will be randomly selected to take Polly that weekend. Please note that, in an effort to give all our students a chance to participate, Polly will be sent home with a different student each weekend until all student volunteers have had a chance to take her home.
5. This is a gentle reminder to please kindly ensure all homework is completed using a regular pencil. In an effort to help prepare our students for first grade and instill good work habits at an early age, markers, colored pencils, and pens should be avoided if at all possible when doing homework, and crayons should be used for coloring pictures only. As always, your support is so very much appreciated.

Writing:
This week, students will continue their study of Unit 4: Persuasive Letters. Students will learn how to translate notes from their thinking maps into full sentences. Students will also learn how to organize their sentences by idea or topic to create paragraphs.

Social Studies:
Unit 4: The Neighborhood
Focus: Neighborhoods have many buildings.

Math:
This week, students will begin their study of Chapter 4: Subtraction Facts to 10. Topics to be included this week are: using various strategies to subtract numbers, writing and representing subtraction sentences, and understanding outcomes for changing subtraction order.

Science:
Unit 4: Motion
Focus: What factors affect motion?

SPECIAL DATES:
March 21 – Crazy Hair Day
March 22 – Twin Day/Look-alike Day
March 23 – Fashion Disaster Day
March 24 – Sports Day
March 25 – Good Friday. NO SCHOOL.